Self oriented mask harness arrangement



H. W. SEELER SELF ORIENTED MASK HARNESS ARRANGEMENT Nov. 17, 1959 FiledAug. 8, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. flm zr m sea 66' BY U Nov. 17,1959 H. w. SEELER 2,912,978

SELF ORIENTED MASK HARNESS ARRANGEMENT Filed Aug. 8, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet2 INVENTOR. I/f/VA) w- 56 a: BY Wm M c. w i" United States Patent SELFORIENTED MASK HARNESS GEMENT Henry W. Seeler, Dayton, Ohio, assignor tothe United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the AirForce Application August 8, 1957, Serial No. 677,167 4 Claims. (Cl.128-146) (Granted under Title 35, US. Code (1952), sec. 266) Theinvention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for theUnited States Government for governmental purposes without payment to meof any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to a harness arrangement for supporting abreathing mask and, more particularly, to a single strap harnessarrangement for orienting a mask against the face of the wearer.

Breathing masks, which are used by pilots of aircraft operating at highaltitudes, must be fixed against the face of the wearer at high altitudewith sufiicient force to prevent escape of oxygen from the interior ofthe mask to the ambient atmosphere. When the mask is retained againstthe face of the wearer with a large force for a long period of time, itmay become uncomfortable and the pilot may desire to shift the positionof the mask on his face. The present invention satisfactorily solvesthis problem by permitting the mask to be retained with its desiredforce against the face of the wearer and yet be capable of beingadjustable on the face of the wearer to a more comfortable positionthrough the single harness strap arrangement of the present invention.

The occupant of an aircraft is sometimes subject to large gravityforces. These forces tend to cause the mask to slip down upon the faceof the wearer and possibly hinder his vision. The movement of the maskdue to the gravity forces also may cause the seal formed against theface of the wearer by the mask to become ineffective and the wearer nolonger receives the needed oxygen. This invention satisfactorily solvesthese problems by retaining the mask in the desired position despite itbeing subject to large gravity forces.

An object of this invention is to provide a single strap harnessarrangement for a breathing mask.

Another object of this invention is to provide a harness apparatus thatretains a breathing mask in position when subjected to large gravityforces.

A further object of this invention is to provide a harness arrangementfor a breathing mask that allows the mask to glide freely within thearrangement when the wearer pushes the mask to its most comfortableposition.

Other objects of this invention will be readily perceived from thefollowing description.

This invention relates to a means for orienting a breathing mask againstthe face of the wearer and includes a harness strap having a portionadjacent one of its ends secured to a lowermost portion of the mask. Theharness strap extends through guide means secured to one side of aheadgear or the like, guide means secured to an uppermost portion of themask, and guide means secured to the other side of the, headgear. Theend of the strap, which is adjacent the portion secured to the lowermostportion of the mask, has adjustment means secured thereto to hold theother end of the strap with an adjustable force to retain the mask inits oriented position. 4

The attached drawings illustrate a preferred embodiment of theinvention, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the apparatusof the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the apparatus of Fig. l; and

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the portion of the mask having theharness secured thereto.

Referring to the drawing, there is shown a breathing. mask 10 having asingle harness strap 11 secured to the lowermost portion of the mask bysecuring means 20 such as a rivet. The portion of the harness strap,which is secured to the lowermost portion of the mask, is adjacent oneend 12 of the strap 11. The mask is secured to a. headgear 14, which thewearer has supported on his head, by the strap 11 extending through aguide member 15,v which is secured to one side of the headgear 14.

The mask 10 has a plurality of clamps 16 secured to the uppermostportion of the mask adjacent the nose of the wearer. The clamps 16function as guide means for the harness strap 11 to pass therethroughafter it has passed through the guide member 15 of the headgear 14.While a plurality of clamps 16 is shown, it will be understood that onlyone may be employed along the uppermost portion of the mask, if desired.After the free end 17 of the strap 11 has passed through the clamps 16,it extends through a guide member 18 on the other side of the headgear14.

The end 12 of the strap 11 has an adjustment means such as a buckle 19attachedto it. After the free end 17 of the harness strap 11 has passedthrough the guide member 18, it extends through the buckle to be heldtherein by friction to retain the mask in its oriented position. Theexact force, which is employed to hold the mask 10 against the face ofthe wearer, depends upon the position in which the free end 17 of thestrap 11 is held within the buckle 19, and, of course, is adjustable asdesired.

By mounting the harness strap 11 so that it is attached to the uppermostportion of the mask 10 and secured adjacent the lowermost portion of themask 10, it will be observed from Fig. 1 that substantially equal forcesare applied against the uppermost portion of the mask and the lowermostportion of the mask because the portion of the strap between the clamps16 and either of the guide members 15 or 18 and the portion between thelowermost portion of the mask and the guide member are at substantiallyright angles. Since the force is applied through the headgear 14 and itsguide member, the resultant forces equally divide between the portion ofthe strap, which is disposed between the clamps 16 of the mask 10 andthe guide member 15 or 18 of the headgear 14 and the portion of thestrap between the lowermost portion of the mask 10 and the guide member15 or 18 of the headgear 14. After the mask has been secured withsufficient force against the face of the wearer through adjustment ofthe strap by the buckle 19, the mask 10 may be moved as desired withoutchanging the force exerted on the mask. Thus, the harness straparrangement of the present invention maintains the mask in orientedposition against the face of the wearer at all times.

Since the forces are divided equally between the uppermost portion ofthe mask and the lowermost portion of the mask, the mask retains itsposition against the face of the wearer even when subjected to largegravity forces because of the harness arrangement. Any tendency for themask to slip due to the large gravity forces is prevented by the forceof the strap 11 acting against the mask 10.

An advantage of this invention is that the harness arrangement producessubstantially the same force at both the top and bottom of the mask tothereby keep a uniform force upon the mask against the face of thewearer to maintain the desired seal between the mask and the face of thewearer. Another advantage of this invention is that it permits easyadjustment of the mask by only one buckle on the face of the wearerw-ithout changing the force holding the mask against the face of thewearer.-

For purposes of exemplification, a particular embodiment of theinvention has been shown and described-ac cording to the best presentunderstanding thereof. However, it will be apparent that changes andmodifications in the arrangement and construction of the parts thereofmay be resorted to' without departing from the true spirit and scope ofthe invention. t

I claim:

1. Means for orienting a breathing mask against the face of a wearerincluding a single harness strap having a portion adjacent one of itsends secured to the lowermost portion of the mask;'the single harnessstrap extending through guide means for securement to one side of aheadgear or the like, guide means on an uppermost portion of the mask,and guide means for securement to the other side of the headgear;-andthe other end of the strap adjacent the portion secured to the lowermostportion of the mask having adjustment means secured thereto to hold theother end with an adjustable force to retain the mask in its orientedposition.

2. Means for orienting a breathing mask against the face of a wearerincluding a single harness strap having a portion adjacent one of itsends secured to a lowermost portion of the mask; the harness strapextending through guide means for securement to one side of a headgearor the like, guide means on an uppermost portion of the mask, and guidemeans for securement to the other side of the headgear; and the otherend of the strap adjacent the portion secured to the lowermost portionof the mask having a buckle secured thereto to hold the other end withan adjustable force to retain the mask in its position.

3. In combination, a headgear or the like having a pair of guidemembers, a breathing mask having securing means to said headgearcomprising, a single harness strap having a portion adjacent one ot itsends secured to the lowermost portion .of the mask, the strap extendingthrough one'of said guide members secured to one side of said headgearor the like, said mask having guide means adjacent the upper portionthereof through which the strap passes, the strap: passing through theother of said guide members secured to the other side of said headgear,and adjustment means attached to the end of the strap adjacent theportion secured to the mask to hold the other end of the strap with anadjustable force to retain the mask against the face of the wearer.

4. In combination, a breathing mask, a single harness strap having aportion adjacent one of its ends secured to oriented the lowermostportion of the mask, the strap extending through guide means forsecurement to one side of a" headgear or the-like, said mask havingguide means adjacent the upper portion thereof through which the strappasses, the strap passing through guide means'for securement to theother side of the headgear, and a buckle attached to the end of thestrap adjacent the portion se-' cured to the mask to hold the other endof the strap with an adjustable force to retain the mask against theface of the wearer.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,423,631 Akerman et al July 8, 1947 FOREIGN PATENTS 727,907 GermanyNov, 14, 1 942

